Southern California -- this just in

Insomniac's Electric Daisy Carnivals to continue as planned

March 23, 2012 | 1:51
pm

Insomniac Inc., one of the top electronic rave producers in the nation, said its massive Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas -- and other planned music events -- will not be affected by the indictment in Los Angeles of its chief executive, Pasquale Rotella.

"It is business as usual for Insomniac," the firm said in a statement. "The company has a robust leadership team in place implementing Mr. Rotella's vision and no events will be impacted."

Company officials said they have already sold 70% of the three-day ticket packages available for the upcoming Electric Daisy Carnival starting June 8 in Las Vegas. No lineup of performers has been announced.

The New York event in May is sold out and will continue as planned.

Insomniac came under scrutiny after the highly-publicized drug overdose death of a 15-year-old girl who attended the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2010.

That two-day event drew between 80,000 and 100,000 people per day to the Coliseum and adjoining Exposition Park. It moved to Vegas last year amid criticism after 13 years working with the L.A. venue.

Numerous efforts were made to convince L.A. officials that the dance events were safe. Insomniac established an 18-and-over policy for all its events and pledged to have more medical staff on site. The county's Department of Public Health even distributed fliers to warn concertgoers of the dangers of the illicit drug Ecstasy.

Rotella's attorney, Gary Jay Kaufman, said Friday morning that Rotella "is going to vigorously defend himself and clear his good name."

Rotella was among six people named in an indictment handed down after an investigation of the Coliseum's finances, which was unsealed Friday.

Also indicted were former Coliseum technology manager Leopold Caudillo Jr.; ex-stadium contractor Tony Estrada; former Coliseum general manager Patrick Lynch; former Coliseum events manager Todd DeStefano; and Reza Gerami, chief executive of the rave company Go Ventures. Lynch, DeStefano and Gerami were taken into custody Thursday.

The indictment caps a 13-month investigation by the district attorney's office, triggered by Los Angeles Times reports on a corruption scandal involving millions of dollars in questionable transactions at one of the nation's most storied stadiums.